Prayers for Boston Marathon Spectators and Participants

Two years ago, my husband qualified for, ran, and finished the Boston Marathon. He had run three marathons before Boston, and I had always been with him at the start and waiting for him at the finish.  I remember feeling so uneasy waiting for him to pass through the finish line at Boston.  The crowd was beyond anything I could have imagined.  My children and I paced back and forth around the corner from Boylston St. since we couldn't get close enough to see him finish.  We had arranged a meeting point near the buses that contained the gear the runners left on the buses in the morning since the race is "point to point," and we weren't at the start of the race with him.  I had such a feeling of disconnect and worry that day. When we found one another after he finished, I was so relieved.  He had run hard and had to sit down, but he seemed relieved, too, to have completed his goal.

Today in Boston, an act of senseless violence has marred the historic Boston Marathon.  A homemade bomb exploded close the the finish line about 4 hours into the race. The race today honored the 26 victims at Newtown, Connecticut.  Now, Boston has its own victims.  Two are confirmed dead and at least two dozen are injured.  Reporters mentioned that many had severed limbs.  As I flipped between the networks, watching the explosion over and over, the emergency workers and other citizens coming to the aid of the injured, tears streamed down my face.  I sobbed for a good 20 minutes, trying to make sense of it all.  I saw the images of the street I had walked with my young children two years ago.  I heard reports that children were injured.  I watched footage of runners finishing, others falling as debris from the blast struck them.  I worried for their safety.  I also thought like a runner and the wife of a runner--How would runners find their families? What did runners know who were still out on the course? And basic things like, would they be able to finish?  No, the race was over.

Boston is the big show: the Superbowl of Marathons.  Runners must qualify to race the Boston Marathon.  They train for months, even years, to get there.  Not everyone finishes in 2:30 hours like the elites.  At around four hours into the race when the bomb went off, about half of the runners were still on the course.  The athletes came to finish their race, but a senseless act of violence ruined their moment.

As I write, I don't know the motivation of the bomber, though reports indicate someone is in custody. I pray for those who lost their lives and the many who were injured in the explosion.  I wonder what our world has become when people aren't safe at a foot race.  God help us all.